24th December, 2022
By Esther Komolafe
The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has obtained assurance from the management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and National Inland and Waterways Authority (NIWA) that employment of low cadre officers into the two organisations will commence very soon.
This was one of the outcomes of the MWUN National Executive Council Meeting which took at Golden Tulip Hotel at Festac, in Lagos last Monday.
The assurance followed complaint by President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju in his welcome address of how the port concession exercise that took place at Nigerian Ports in 2006 resulted in loss of 9,000 jobs, leaving only 4,000 workers for the NPA.
The MWUN President revealed that while there is an extinction of junior workforce at NPA even, the senior ones are also retiring, but recruitment is not going on.
He therefore called for employment of more staff in all areas of port operations, in order to man jetties and port terminals.
Also, Comrade Adeyanju noted that the lack of a clear-cut maritime policy is a major factor affecting the concessioning programme as the NPA lack the statutory basis to checkmate the private terminal operators.
He called for enactment of a national transport Policy for the overall development of the country.
“We enjoin the necessary authority to correct this anomaly, as port operators without a regulatory body pose enormous danger to port users and non development of our exporting ability
“As workers in the transport sector, we yearn for seamless movement of people and goods from one point to another to boost our economy and stimulate social integration. Unfortunately, this desire is hampered clearly by our nation’s lack of a clear transport policy. It is obviously now necessary that Nigeria should develops a sustainable national integrated transport policy to serve as a catalyst to the overall development of the country,” he said
The MWUN President also commended the Minister of Transportation, Eng Muazu Jaji Sambo for securing President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent for the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF).
He also urged the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to put the CVFF to good use through procurement of more vessels to provide employment for the teeming NSDP cadet trainees.
The MWUN President General noted that employees of Shipping companies in Nigeria are being treated badly with very poor terms of engagement and collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
“We must therefore begin to consider and institute a working NJIC for the shipping sector. It has therefore become important that we take action to get respect and dignity for our members in the shipping sector with the view to alleviate their pain and suffering.
“This is why it is important to stress that agreements, collective bargaining, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) are necessary tools which should be held holy and complied to always when they are reached.
“We are therefore very pleased with the management of Bollore Transport & Logistics Nigeria Limited who recently entered into an MOU with the MWUN, which provisions we implore BTL management to comply with as a precedent to others.
“Consequently, we reinstate the state of emergency declared in the Nigeria Shipping Industry by the Union — MWUN and call on the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) and other well meaning maritime practitioners to take heed now to save our shipping industry from imminent industrial action,” he said.
In response to the address, (NPA) said it has received approval from the Federal Government to begin employment process for more staff so as to gear up the output of the Authority and strengthen maritime activities in Nigeria.
The Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello Koko who was represented by the General Manager Human Resources, Mr Ahmad Umar also expressed concern that there are more senior staff in NPA than the junior officers.
But he noted that the anomaly will soon fade out as the Authority is ready to employ more hands into the junior cadre to boost the system.
According to him , “ NPA currently has an inverted pyramid structure with more senior officers occupying larger number, than the junior workforce” .
The NPA boss commended Comrade Adetunji and his executives for embracing dialogue in resolution of disputes.
He assured the union of continue support in terms of welfare of members from the Authority.
“The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is concerned about the dwindling numbers in terms of staffing, the Managing Director is interested in this particular issue, with this approval to employ more of staff than officers
“There is going to be an increase in the numbers, this is to strengthen your union and address most of the issues you have raised here, so be rest assured that NPA is addressing the issues.
Responding in the same vein, the Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) Dr George Moghalu who was represented by Mr Hakeem Agbaje confirmed that the organisation too is also making preparations towards employment of more junior staffs into the agency.
“Many that are employed back then are now senior staff, in fact we have them up to the level of Assistant Managing Directors, that is level 14 officers in NIWA presently, this tells us that we need more staff to handle most of our day in day out activities,“ the NIWA managing director said.
On his part, the Director General Nigerian Maritime Administration and safety Agency ( NIMASA) Dr Bashir Jamoh agreed to the union’s demand of provision of a befitting building to serve as Maritime Seafarers Center for the Union in Lagos.
Jamoh also assured the leadership of MWUN that the payment of pension to aged seafarers is being looked into with the support of the Minister of Transportation, who has assured that after the December festivities, the efforts would yield results.